1 . The benefits of exercise have been fully noted and your resolutions have been made. Yes, you want to be fit and live a long and healthy life.     1    .

According to standard advice issued by the World Health Organization, adults should be getting at least 150 minutes of moderate physical workout or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week to extend their lives, get fit, have stronger muscles and be a healthy weight. If that didn’t already sound a lot, the WHO says to double that if you want to get further benefits.

The good news for those who dislike sports is that it’s possible to stick to these guidelines without entering a gym or breaking into a jog.     2    .

This idea is in line with evidence from a study last year of more than 130,000 people in 17 countries, which found that walking to work and housework such as vacuuming or mopping the floor are activities enough to reduce the risk of early death by 28 per cent, as long as you do 150 minutes a week. If you aren’t one for housework, you will be pleased to hear that your weekly amount of exercise can be put into the weekend with no ill effects, says Gray Donovan of Loughbirough University, UK.     3     But his team analyzed data from more than 63,000 adults in the UK covering 18 years and found that people who favored a “weekend fighter” plan had pretty much the same reduced risk of early death from all causes as those who spread out exercise. “One weekly exercise is usually sufficient to reduce mortality and morbidity (死亡率和发病率),” Donovan says. Even weekend fighters who did less than the recommended amount for the week fared better than inactive people.

    4     “No level of exercise is too much,” says Donovan. “There’s no increase in mortality or morbidity if you keep increasing the amount.” Just don’t go too hard each time.